Botanical classification/cultivar designation: Hypericum androsaemum cultivar Portete.
The present Invention relates to a new and distinct cultivar of Hypericum plant, botanically known as Hypericum androsaemum, commercially used as cut stems with fruits, and hereinafter referred to by the name xe2x80x98Portetexe2x80x99.
The new Hypericum is a product of a planned breeding program conducted by the Inventor in El Quinche, Pichincha, Ecuador. The objective of the breeding program was to develop cut Hypericum varieties with strong foliage and attractive fruit coloration.
The new cultivar originated from a cross-pollination made by the Inventor in August, 1999 of a proprietary selection of Hypericum androsaemum identified as Code 58, not patented, as the female, or seed, parent with an unknown selection of Hypericum androsaemum, not patented, as the male, or pollen, parent. The cultivar Portete was discovered and selected by the Inventor as a flowering plant within the progeny of the stated cross-pollination in a controlled environment in El Quinche, Pichincha, Ecuador.
Asexual reproduction of the new Hypericum by terminal cuttings taken at El Quinche, Pichincha, Ecuador since February, 2001, has shown that the unique features of this new Hypericum are stable and reproduced true to type in successive generations of asexual reproduction.
The following traits have been repeatedly observed and are determined to be the unique characteristics of xe2x80x98Portetexe2x80x99. These characteristics in combination distinguish xe2x80x98Portetexe2x80x99 as a new and distinct cultivar:
1. Upright plant habit, strong flowering stems.
2. Vigorous growth habit.
3. Dark green-colored leaves.
4. Shiny red-colored fruits.
5. Good postproduction longevity.
Plants of the new Hypericum differ from plants of the female parent selection identified as Code 58 in the following characteristics:
1. Plants of the new Hypericum have more rounded fruits than plants of the female parent selection.
2. Plants of the new Hypericum and the female parent selection differ in fruit coloration as plants of the female parent selection have dark pink-colored fruits.
Plants of the new Hypericum can be compared to plants of the Hypericum cultivar Bosapin, disclosed in U.S. Plant Pat. No. 10,993. In side-by-side comparisons conducted in El Quinche, Pichincha, Ecuador, plants of the new Hypericum differed from plants of the cultivar Bosapin in the following characteristics:
1. Plants of the new Hypericum have shorter lateral branches than plants of the cultivar Bosapin.
2. Plants of the new Hypericum had smaller fruits than plants of the cultivar Bosapin.
3. Plants of the new Hypericum and the cultivar Bosapin differed in lateral branch coloration.